Arms of Shadows
by Zashlight
Summary: Felix is having a normal day sometime after the adepts had completed their quest to light the lighthouses. Until he notices something strange... a growing, shadowy mark on his arm. A teleporter... to a lost land.
1. Prologue

It is none other than Zashlight, back with another fic. I'm just making up this fic as I go along. Review if you want to, I'll always reply. Why I switched genres so quickly, by the way, is because I want to try writing a story for every genre. I don't know how I'll manage things like romance or supernatural stuff or such, but I'm sure I can think of something.

Felix will be the main character...I like to use him in fics. Samsung too. I'll make a humor fic starring him sometime...or maybe romance? Sammiashipping Hint hint. (Read Vacation Time for an explanation of Samsung.) Arms of Shadows will start off rather slowly, but it will pick up the pace later on. This is set after the adepts lit the last lighthouse, pretty much after the game.

This is strange...I know, but then again, I told you already on my profile. I'm writing for my own satisfaction, and maybe others' entertainment or hate.

One last word...I think this is a very silent, dark story. Felix does say one word, but the word is just supporting the details, which is the majority of the fic...agh, I'm rambling again. Review to tell me what you think.

Disclaimer: I almost forgot this thing. Huh? Do I own GS? Sure, why not...that would be nice. I don't, unfortunately, unless Camelot calls me up today and gives me full ownership over Golden Sun 1 and 2. Like a supermarket lottery. Which won't happen. So, no. Btw, it takes a while for me to get to the point of things, in disclaimers and fics and everything that has to do with communication. Ok! Read the fic.

* * *

Arms of Shadows

Prologue

Felix set down his cup of tea with a dull klunk, and pondered. What should he do for the upcoming event of his mother's birthday? He rubbed the handle of the glass cup with his thumb, thinking in the way that only Felix can do.

Then he noticed a small, dark spot on his arm. The earth adept tried to flick it off, thinking it was a fly or maybe a stain. Felix got up with a sigh. How annoying. He stretched his arms with a groan and walked out of his house and into the green-gold grass. The gold was from the sun that was beginning to set, and for a moment Felix watched the majestic portrait. Streaks of orange and red went through the sky, and the golden-orange sun seemed to be in his reach, as if if he ran far enough, he would be close enought to touch it. Tearing his eyes away forcefully from the beautiful sight, the bronze-haired teenager set off to the main river. The river gurgled gently and invited Felix to dip his hands in the cool water. He took this invintation and tried washing off the odd stain, but it didn't work no matter how hard he scrubbed.

"Damn..." Frustrated, he shuffled back to his house.

When the sky tinted into a darker shade of blue and black in early night and everyone settled down to eat dinner, it was still there. The ink-like stain was quite bothersome, but he tried his best to ignore it.

The family ate the roasted chicken with Jenna chattering about her day swimming with Mia and Sheba. Then they washed up, and went to bed as they did every night. As Felix slipped under the white, thin covers of his bed, he examined the black spot again. With alarm he noticed that it had turned into a swirling tattoo that was the same color as the night sky outside. It was as large as the cup he had been drinking tea out of this morning.

It seemed to grow with the night, the tattoo-stain reaching out with dark tendrils on his arm. Felix tried to get to sleep, but suddenly he felt a sharp, painful feeling on the arm that had the strange tattoo on it. The pain spread gradually through his body as the dark thing grew.

With a yell, he saw a shadow-hole underneath him. It sucked on him greedily, drawing him down, down, into the dark depths of it, farther and farther from his home and light...until all Felix saw was an ocean of shadows and a ripping, searing pain that shot through his heart and soul.

* * *

Not sure where I'm going with this. I'm sure it will turn out intresting, and I'll complete it, of course, but I've run out of inspiration for the moment. 


	2. Discovery

Arms of Shadows

Discovery

Felix woke up in a place that he could hardly describe. It was so bright everywhere he looked...and it looked almost like a forest, except with no trees. Instead, there was just very tall golden plants. About 20 feet tall for an average...whatever those plants were called. He looked up and gaped in surprise. There was a huge sphere of light! Almost like a sun, but it gave off no heat. It was cold in the forest-like place. It seemed ominous as well, as if everything he saw here was just a trap. A huge, peaceful-looking trap. He stood up and looked around, confused. Then he heard a thump and a sharp cry.

"Kraaah!" Felix pivoted around on his foot to see a strange-looking monster. It had an onyx-colored body, with two large wings and two smaller wings just below the large ones. It looked like an eagle, besides the color difference and the extra pair of wings. Its golden eyes gleamed with satisfaction at finding suitable prey. The eyes alone were as large as and seemed like lamps. Its whole body seemed to be made of shadows, with only slight details to make it a 3-dimensional creature. Without hesitation, he reached for his sword - which wasn't there.

"Where is it?!" In a panic he fumbled around, looking for his blade. When the shadow bird flapped its powerful wings and rose into the air, the adept decided to give up the search and use psynergy. Closing his eyes and concentrating, he tried to cast Stone Spire and waited for the spires to appear and impale the odd bird-creature. When nothing happened, Felix stared at his hands, desperately trying to cast the earth psynergy. The shadow bird dove like a bullet toward him, and Felix hopelessly held his hands up in defense...

* * *

"Ow!" Felix opened his eyes and winced as he felt the familiar sharp pain from medicine on wounds. His wounds.

The Venus adept tried to get up from the bed he was lying on, throughly disoriented and confused. Where was he? Or, how did he get there? Or...was he alive?

"Lay still please, sir." A blonde-haired young man was applying the medicine with cotton on his wounds, and he was frowning.

Felix felt exhausted, so he willingly fell towards the bed. "Sorry."

While he lay there in a hazy state, he thought. 'Why can't I cast psynergy? What was that shadow bird that I met? Who is this person? Is this a hospital?'

"You can't cast psynergy?" The person that was treating his wounds looked at him in surprise. "Aren't you Contigan? You came from Weyard, right sir?"

Felix looked up in equal surprise. "You read my mind! Contigan? I'm not Contigan, I'm Valean. Isn't this Weyard?"

"Valean? What's a Valean?" The man gave up all the 'sir' talk.

'Ok, this definitely isn't Weyard. But then...where...' He tried to think clearly. 'Contigan, a person from Contigo...Ivan? Hamma? Yes...that means that this person is a...Contigan? A Jupiter adept? Yes, he read my mind. He also speaks of Weyard as if it is a different world. Then what is this place?

"Ivan! Hamma! The two children who live in Weyard!" Felix had his full attention now. "You know of them? Well, I suppose that is possible. But...the children of Tiersen! Tiersen will be so happy to hear that his son and daughter are alive and well! They...are alive and well, right?" He gave Felix a look, as if they'd better be, or else.

"Yes. Who is this...?"

"Their father! Oh, what good news!"

"Isn't their father... dead or something? He never came to... uh... Weyard."

"He used to be dead, but he was brought back to life from the three pearls of Anemos. I suppose you aren't Contigan."

His responses added more and more questions for Felix to brood about. Answered one question, made two more in its place. Pearls? Brought to life? This guy was either nuts, or this was... Anemos. And Ivan's father was alive. Tersien, or something like that.

"Can you let me sleep for a while? I think I should rest for a little bit..."

The doctor or whatever he was looked disappointed. "Can't it wait?"

"No." Then Felix remembered something, and rapidly pulled his arm out from the covers, and pushed back his sleeve. The shadowy thing was gone. No more swirls. Nothing. Felix sighed. 'I don't know what to make of all this...maybe I should just go to sleep, prepare for whatever comes next...' He closed his heavy eyes and gave in to the sleep.

Felix wished a happy birthday to his mother in his heart, and hoped that he would get to say it to her by mouth soon.

* * *


	3. Recollection

Arms of Shadows

Recollection

"Is he...? We must..." Hushed whispers surrounded Felix in his half-asleep state. Words flew into his ears, but most of them didn't process. After trying to grasp onto his senses and failing again and again, he gave up altogether. The adept slowly loosened his grip on reality again and slipped into a comforting darkness.

--

A renowned wind adept of Anemos rubbed his temples. "Is this true? Is this man..."

"I... believe so. He knew your children's names. Sir." Doctor Isus shrugged slightly and shook his head.

The adept sharply looked up at the Doctor and banged the wooden table at the infirmary with a powerful fist. "Everyone in the city knows my children's names!"

Isus winced. "I... know, sir, but if I wasn't confident about this, why would I call you up here?"

Tiersen glared at him for a while, and then sighed. "How would I know...?"

Isus didn't reply. They sat patiently, waiting for the 'mystery man' to wake up.

--

The mystery man suddenly opened his eyes wide. "Where...?" In a rush it all flooded back into his head, overwhelming him immeadiately. Tiredly, he sat up and saw the doctor and another man that looked remarkably like...

"Ivan?" Felix said in astonishment. After the man shook his head with a sad smile, surprised himself, he ventured another guess. "T-Tier...um...Tiersen?"

"Correct." Tiersen stood up and glanced at the doctor. "I'm sorry for doubting you, Isus. I believe you now." Ivan's father - it was a hard idea to grasp - walked out the infirmary, muttering to himself.

The Valean struggled to work out what just happened. Tiersen - apparently Ivan and Master Hamma's father - had just spoken to him, a stranger while he never spoke to Ivan, his son. That alone was enough to think about. An extra detail was that the doctor's name was Isus. Doctor Isus.

He thought further, squinting as he did. The shadow on his arm had grown ever since the morning of the day before his mother's birthday. At night, it had consumed him, in a pit of shadows...and when he awoke, he was lying in a eerie forest with the odd plants and the unnatural sun.

Then a bird had attacked him... a bird of shadows. He couldn't use Psynergy, and his sword wasn't buckled to his belt as usual... odd, because he kept his sword at his side even when he was sleeping. The bird had swooped in for the kill, and the next thing he knew he was in this place, and Doctor Isus was applying medicine to his... wounds. He had been injured. After a little while, he figured out that Isus could read his mind, and therefore he was a Jupiter adept.

After some talk and on the doctor's case, mind-reading, they came upon two interesting subjects - Ivan's father and something else... something that he heard that was strange. Oh, that's right. Pearls. The pearls that brought him back to life. Then he slept, and... here he was now.

He nodded, concluding that none of it made sense. At all. Unless this was some parellel universe. Which didn't make sense either. Which meant that the only sane answer was that he went crazy.

Felix frowned. It annoyed him when he couldn't reach an explanation for something. And the only explanation he came up with - that he was insane - didn't make him too happy. So he may as well talk to this Isus and find out what he could.

"Um... Doctor Isus? I would like to know some things."

Isus immeadiately looked up from his work. "Yes! Certainly."

Suddenly eager...? Felix looked up at the ceiling. What to ask? Maybe the one question that really stuck out. "Where did you find me?"

"Dawn Forest." The doctor looked confused. "You never did tell me where you're from. You... are from Weyard, yes?"

"Yes... a village called Vale. I am a earth adept."

Isus jolted, as if he had been shocked. "An... earth adept? A Venus adept?"

Felix nodded once, glad that this man at least knew what an earth adept was. Talking wasn't something he wanted to do unless absolutely required.

The doctor's eyes suddenly and quickly grew hard and cold, morphing into two slivers of dark violet ice. He hesitated, warily looking at Felix. Then he sighed.

Chopping his sentences short like Felix always did, he said, "I... suppose I shouldn't put Clan matters against you. You don't know anything because you're from Weyard. I can tell. I've read your mind already."

The Valean looked surprised. "You... have? When did you -" He didn't feel the usual probing tendrils of Psynergy stretching out in his mind when Sheba or Ivan tried to Mind Read him, wanting to know if he had a crush on someone. Felix had always flown into a rage and put an end to the invasion of privacy by threatening to steal their Djinn action figures. He never did, of course. If he really did steal them, then both would hate him forever. The earth adept knew how much they loved those ridiculous toys.

Isus grinned weakly, breaking through the stillness of the atmosphere of their conversation. "I am more experienced than Sheba or Ivan, since I am a full-fledged wind adept. I am sure Hamma is close to being as strong in Psynergy as me."

That, needless to say, disturbed Felix greatly. "Please try not to read my mind, doctor. I would appreciate it if you wouldn't."

"It is very tempting, but I will try not to. No promising, though... I might be ordered to." Isus grinned again.

"One more question... what do you mean by 'clans'?"

Isus shoved his glasses up and prepared to explain in the simplest way possible.

"There are four clans of Alchemy. Jupiter, Venus, Mercury, and Mars. There were five Ones. They created Alchemy, and therefore the four clans. The Ones were wise and very powerful, and the leaders we have for each clan are descendants of them. Like Tiersen is leader of the Jupiter Clan."

"Weyard was created by the leader of the Ones. It was to be a meeting ground to symbolize peace for every element. All the Ones except the leader created a lighthouse for each of their respective element. Then they made 'Elemental Stars' and sacrificed their spirits to the leader. The leader put the spirits inside the stars.

Their spirits are in the Elemental Stars even now. The leader of the Ones made a resting place for the Elemental Stars. A sanctum, so that the peace would not be disturbed. Eventually, when the leader of the Ones was sure that it was safe, he ordered each clan to send pilgrims to live on Weyard. The pilgrims did so, and lived in a golden age of peace.

But power and greed corrupted them in time, beyond the safety and authority of the clans in their respective planets. It became the Golden Age of Man, and they misused their powers of Psynergy." Isus suddenly looked outside the window.

"Oh! I can't be talking to you here! I must go! I'm sorry, I'll come back later." Isus scrambled clumsily out of the room, flinging on a jacket and knocking various things over.

Hmm... that was too bad. He was just getting interested in the story... most of it, terms like 'Golden Age' and 'Elemental Star' was familiar.

As Felix rested on the bed with his eyes closed, he turned the information over and over in his head, grilling it into his brain. It sure filled in a wide gap or two in Weyard's mythology... but that didn't answer any questions of what he was doing here. Jupiter Clan?

Ones... that sounded familiar. The powerful and wise Ones...Felix connected it immeadiately. The Wise One! That floating chunk of rock with a cyclops-style eyeball was the leader of the creators of Alchemy?! Maybe, but... we had lit the lighthouses. Some even crumbled to the ground. The Wise One resisted. What have we done...? Was it really saving Weyard? We all thought that Weyard was the only land to be saved. As long as Weyard was saved, everything would be perfect and happy.

For the first time in his life... his head hurt from thinking. Happened a lot to Garet, but him?

Sighing, he turned on his side and gasped when he felt the sharp, prickling pain of the large gash on his side. Healing, but still delicate. Maybe he could use Potent Cure...? Maybe not, it didn't work in... what was it? Dawn Forest. Sounds just a little too peaceful for the place where he was almost killed by a large, blood-thirsty evil shadow bird-monster. It was worth a try, though...

Felix was quickly disappointed when he didn't feel the usual response of the golden glow that bathed him when he tried to cure himself, so for once he had to sit in impatience and pain, waiting for the doctor - what kind of doctor was that anyway? - to come back from whatever he was doing.

He quickly drifted down to the state of half-asleep again, his confusion and boredom mixing into a dull ache.


	4. Back

Arms of Shadows

Back

Again.

It had happened again, him being in some place without any memory of getting there.

Weyard. Vale. He was back in his home.

Was it all a dream?

* * *

Jenna burst into Felix's room all of a sudden seeming to be looking for something. Her eyes widened when she saw her brother on the bed and began ranting almost immediately. "Big bro! Where were you?! You missed the most important event of the year! Mom's birthday!"

She sat down and thought. "Well... maybe that's the second most important event of the year, because obviously my birthday is most important, and yeah. But... anyway! You missed something really important. Mom was so pissed! She kept saying, 'How could my 'dear son' run off somewhere and miss my birthday' or something like that." Jenna looked at him, immense relief calming her. "Where were you? And I'm glad you're safe." She looked down, embarassed. "I thought... something bad happened to you... you know, like... that storm... I'm so glad to see you!"

"I -" Felix looked overwhelmed, eyes darting around everywhere. Taking in each and every detail of his room. Then slowly resting on Jenna. "Jenna!" Jenna broke down and hugged him in relief.

"What?" Jenna said, pulling away from him and glaring. "You know, you were gone for a few days. We searched all over the place, you know. Like ALL the continents of Weyard?"

Felix's tongue unfroze long enough to say a few words. "I'm... sorry. But I was..." _In another world?_

"There you go, speaking three-word-sentences again. Explain!" She grinned mischievously at him. "Were you with your girlfriend?"

"My... _what_? Girlfriend?! I don't have a..."

"You could have been hiding her." Jenna said matter-of-factly.

Felix shook his head angrily. "What do you think I am?!" He turned serious instantly. "Jenna, listen. I was on Anemos! I saw Ivan's dad! Do you hear me? His -"

Jenna interrupted him yet again. "Ok, you're obviously bonkers. Let's get you some ice for any large head wounds you might have." She dashed off towards the kitchen.

Her brother looked dismayed, then sighed. He had thought a lot of telling Ivan and his sister about his encounter with Tiersen, but he never considered the option that they wouldn't believe him, which was possible and most likely would happen.

He flopped back on his bed, still relieved. 'I thought I would have to stay forever on that place... but I'm back! Finally!' Felix sat up and scratched his head. 'But there are still a few things bothering me. Like, what happened to Isus? And -" He suddenly gaped. Then he smiled grimly, beginning to understand. Knowing he would be back to 'that place' by tonight.

The shadows.

The familiar curling branches of darkness, like a dead tree stretching its branches every which way to suck up the last few precious drops of life.

On his arm.

--

"Mom! I found Felix!" Jenna said, running down the stairs.

Jasmine dropped the dishes she was cleaning in the sink. "Where did you find him?!"

"Um...well, see, that's the weird part. On his bed." Jenna ran outside. "I'm going over to the Inn, ok? I need to see Mia. You can go talk to bro if you want. I think he's still there."

"His... bed? His bed!? I was so worried I was knawing turnips with my teeth! And he was on his bed?!" Jasmine scuttled up to Felix's room and got a good 2-hour lecture ready.

--

Jenna burned the Inn door down with Flare and yelled, "Mia! I need ice!"

"You didn't need to burn my door down..." The innkeeper grumbled.

"Quiet!" Jenna snapped. She banged her palms down on the innkeeper's desk. "Where's Mia's room?" The adept grinned all evil-like and created a fireball. "But maybe you don't want to tell me...?"

"Meep..." The poor innkeeper pointed out Mia's room.

"Thanks much!" Jenna took her screaming and fiery combustion of random objects to Mia's room, much to the innkeeper's relief. And dismay. He might lose one room today.

--

Both Isaac and Garet looked up, alarmed as Jenna stormed in with a fireball in each hand. "Ack! D-don't set something on fire, Jenna!" Garet hid behind a wardrobe, trembling.

"H-h-hi, Jen. What are you going to do with those?" Isaac pointed at her fiery hands.

"What are you guys doing in Mia's room?" Jenna demanded. "And why isn't she here?"

"She went to Imil to visit Justin and Megan."

"Who and who?"

"Those two kids - you wouldn't know them. Anyway, why are you here?"

"I need to see Mia for some ice!"

"Ice? That's all? I wouldn't suggest going all the way over there - well, maybe that is a good idea, there is plenty of ice there. In Imil, I mean."

"Exactly! Now, I'm leaving! Thanks!" She crashed off towards her next destination.

"O-ok..."

"Hey, Jenna!" Garet piped up. "Can I have some cookies over at your house?"

He screamed as his hair went up in flames.

"There's your cookies!"

--

Felix looked up, surprised when his mother barged into his room screeching.

"Where were you?! TELL. ME. NOW. OR. I. WILL. HURT. YOU."

Scary! Even scarier than that shadow bird! His mother never yelled like that!

Felix winced as he strained his brain to make up a believable excuse for not being on Weyard for a few days. He couldn't think of any.

"H-happy birthday, Mom." There, he said it. What he wished to do in the infirmary of Anemos. Now he ducked under his covers, trying to drown out her screams and verbal threats that followed his heartfelt statement.

--

Jenna grumbled in frustration. It's so cold in Imil! She was trying to pick out good ice cubes but had to carve a few with precise fire psynergy. The things she had to do for her poor, hopeless brother.

"Ah-ha! Jackpot! Look at all these cubes!" Jenna jumped up with excitement while hugging her mahogany colored fur jacket close to her.

"Well... that's not enough! I need just a little more... tomorrow." Looking around, Jenna wondered which direction Imil was. Whoops... she forgot! It didn't faze her too much, though. She gathered up some icicle-like twigs from the frozen earth's surface, and sparked up the tinder into a comfortable blaze with her fire psynergy.

Then the persistent young teenager scraped some snow off of the place where she planned to sleep with her fuzzy gloves. Sighing, she roughly set up a small bed made of a straw mat she had brought with her for provisions, and blanketed herself with warm wool bed covers. Then she bit her lip. The Mars adept had only taken those things because her mother insisted that she bring them, just in case.

"Really," Jenna grumbled, pulling up the covers over her head. "The things I do for my brother."

Jenna was sleeping in the middle of a blizzard in the far reaches of Prox. But what she doesn't know...

--

Felix had to go meet Ivan, but that could wait. It was almost night. He was shuddering in anticipation, and was wondering what the falling actually felt like. The first time he had been numb with fear and helpless confusion, but this time he would be alert. He had slight experience...

All night and through dinner Felix was jumpy and fidgeted quite a bit through his steak dinner with celery on the side.

He ran to his room after he had scarfed down his dinner, heart thumping and wondering when the shadows would call him.

--

Jenna banged into her house, unfazed by her long journey. "Where's Felix? I got his ice," She added, holding up some ice cubes. "I had to get it from Vale, though. The ones I got from Imil melted."

"Up in his room, I'm guessing." Her mother shrugged as she bustled about, doing regular household chores.

Jenna banged up to his room and opened the door.

There was no Felix, instead...

A pit of dark shadows. Jenna stared at it, curiousity piqued and uncertain fear pumping slowly.

Jenna edged closer to the hole.


	5. Another

Arms of Shadows

Another

Jenna yelled in shock as she felt her whole body enter the shadowy pit. It felt like her body was stretching in two directions, but it was falling down at the same time. After the strange warped experience, she popped out into a forest...

* * *

Felix was grinning almost crazily. The shadow ride had been...fun, he decided. He had liked it. The first time it was terrifying and it felt suffocating, but that must have been his own fear. Damn if he was insane right now. That couldn't be helped. He'd had at least three days of this insanity, may as well enjoy it. Okay, now he was definitely insane.

He looked around, and immeadiately recognized Isus and his infirmary.

Isus smiled with a slight curve of his mouth. "It's the first time we ever tried that...it seems it worked."

Felix looked serious again. "What exactly _was_ that? And... why do you keep bringing me here? And also, what if someone discovers it?" That idea had suddenly popped into his head. He wasn't exactly sure why. Call it a crazed young man's intuition.

Isus crossed his arms, and almost silently tapped a rhythm on the neat, perfectly shaped tiles on the floor with his foot. A soft clik sound was heard everytime he put his foot down. He didn't say anything for a very long time. Then he gave up the silence and spoke. "I cannot tell you most of that information. I'm sorry. But I can reassure you that no one will discover it."

"But... how?" How. Why. He seemed to use those words a lot these days.

The doctor opened his mouth to answer, or dodge the question again, latter most likely, but quite suddenly a beep beep sound could be heard from the far side of the room. He jumped at least a foot. "What..." Isus clumsily ran to the beeping sound's source. Felix heard a rapid clicking sound, and the doctor-adept ran to another strange machine that Felix had never seen before. A... how could he describe it? A shimmering sound, like a pulse, was heard from the odd machine.

A wave of light crashed down on the whole room, starting from the cylindrical object at Felix's right. Isus was wearing some strange glasses now, his dark violet eyes covered by some black, sturdy glasses-thing with a strap going around his head, securing it. His eyes were apparently shielded, but Felix had to cover his eyes.

The pulsing sound was heard again, and the light show stopped. Standing in the cylindrical machine was...

"Jenna!" Felix gaped at the young teenage girl that he immeadiately recognized as his little sister. He tossed covers off of him and ran to his little sister. His eyes were bugged out by the time he got there.

"Felix...?" His younger sibling looked dazed. "Where..." Jenna started to lose conciousness again.

The Venus adept looked as furious as Tiersen was when Isus had informed him that the man in the Infirmary bed knew his children's names. "You said that no one would discover it!" 'Just now, in fact...' The thought raced through him furiously.

Isus pushed up the funny-glasses and he looked as if someone electrocuted him. "I thought... I'll call the Head."

The nearby earth adept scowled and gently lifted his sister and put her on his bed. He was muttering insults to the generally laid-back Jupiter clan doctor. After a few minutes he just sighed and put his covers over Jenna.

'Now what to do...' Felix looked back at the door Isus had rushed out of. 'What did he say? He was going to call a head? What is this, some sort of Kibombo-sorcery lingo...?' He scratched his head. 'Jenna looks ok... maybe I'll go after him...' Valeans were usually curious about every little thing, and some sneaking around would probably do some good at this moment. Felix excitedly rushed out of the hospital room, and almost ran right into Tiersen. Ivan... and Hamma's...dad!

"Ah! I'm very sorry!" Felix helped the aging man up. "Sir," He added hastily.

The rather old man looked up at him. It took a little while, but there was a flash of recognition. "Oh..." Felix figured that being the ruler of an entire clan would excuse the not-immeadiate recognizing skills.

"My name is Felix, Tiersen sir," Felix said, a little more grudgingly this time. It was like bowing and formally speaking to some parallel-universe version of Ivan. The little troublemaker.

"Yes." Tiersen picked himself up and strutted down the hallway. He looked a bit shaken, and was heading towards a hallway marked with a white sign with black ink that read, 'Offices'.

Felix stared after Tiersen, and wondered whether he should follow dad or doctor. He parted ways from Tiersen and tried the doctor first.

Isus was holding up a black, banana-shaped thing up to his ear in a room that Felix could not even comprehend, nodding and murmuring occasionally. The room was full of square boxes with glowing mechanical ice blue and had numbers and unrecognizable characters on them. "It went off while I was with the patient in Room 531. I hoped that it was a- " His lips pursed into a thin line. "Yes, it seems to be someone the patient knows- " He listened in quiet exasperation again. "Don't interrupt me this time! I know what I'm talk- " Felix heard a loud static buzz, like a bee from the banana-thing. "Oh, for the sake of Anemos! Goodbye!"

It was the first time Felix had seen him as ruffled and disturbed as he was now. Isus didn't even notice him in the wondrous room, and he was pacing, muttering, "How could this happen?" over and over again until Felix cleared his throat. "Ahem..."

He looked up, staring at him with eyes that popped out like saucers. The doctor of Jupiter Clan then grabbed his shoulders and hissed, "Do not tell Lord Tiersen about this!"

Felix licked his lips nervously, Isus's worry beginning to infect him as well. "But... didn't you call people who would... fix it or something?"

Isus's hard dark violet eyes darted around the room in an almost hysterical way. "We agreed not to... let it slip. It was a mere accident. No one needs to know about this." The usually unfazed person had evaporated, leaving a jittery, stuttering shell of the original... and there was no choice, it seemed. Isus almost looked as if he would hurt Felix if he even squeaked a peep.

Felix glared menacingly at Isus, not holding back. "If you don't take my sister back to Weyard- "

He unflinchingly met his gaze, but he winced when he mentioned his sister. "I... that's your sister? I will try, but I can't promise- "

" -Now, then I will personally kill you." A thought sparked into his mind. _With what? _No sword, no Psynergy... nothing. He was stripped of everything he had trained for his whole life, and that made an empty threat. A sudden fury heated his head. He would come to barehanded blows if it had to. His sister had nothing to do with-

'Neither do you.'

It came suddenly to his mind, a force shoving him to his senses.

'I only tried that to bring Ivan and Hamma back to me. You were a mistake.'

With a start he realized it was Tiersen sternly contacting him through their general Psynergetic link. It wasn't very strong, it would be stronger if Felix was a Jupiter adept as well. A flare of anger flashed in his eyes. How frustrating! He would trade his Venus psynergy for Jupiter, if only to retort that Tiersen was a fiend, leaving his children and greedily wanting them back again, and calling his failure a 'mistake'...

'It-it's not like that.' Tiersen echoed his guilty defense into the far reaches of his mind. 'I had to leave my daughter and my son. I had no choice...'

Felix felt a small satisfaction with the realization that Tiersen felt guilty. 'Well, then, why don't you try? I'm a 'mistake'. Fix me, and try again. Bring both Jenna and I to Weyard. I don't know why you brought me back.'

'You were a guinea pig...an adequate subject for research. It only works every other day at a time, but...'

A guinea pig, eh? 'I suppose that's alright,' He thought calmly, all traces of anger flickering away. 'You're done. Bring us back, before more people- ' ...Oh!

He realized something and clamped shut his mouth - brain - at the same instant Tiersen did. It was hard not to think, though. Tiersen was alert immeadiately, all nostalgia and regret fading out. 'What? Who is 'Jenna'? What... before more people?! What does that me- Never mind! I know what it means! I'll come down as soon as possible...!'

Tiersen broke off the mental connection and Felix realized with a sinking feeling that he knew exactly where to find him and... Isus. He almost forgot about Isus.

Felix sheepishly let go of Isus's uniform collar, letting the creased material smooth out again. Isus looked at him, dread shadowing his face. Tiersen busted in, panting. He caught his breath and dignity and sauntered over to Isus. Isus flinched as his lord turned to face him, a smooth expression on his face.

His broad features gave nothing away as he watched the doctor squirm under his imperial gaze. Finally a whoosh of breath escaped Tiersen's rugged and worn lips, and his face crinkled into an expression of pain.

"We must get them... both away from here. We can't- " Tiersen lowered his eyes. "Bring Ha - my children here yet. You know the war against Venus Clan is about to commence." Isus looked away as well, squinting his eyes in stress and worry. "We will... require your services during those times. I hope that you will maintain your duty...?"

The infirmary doctor swung his hand up to his forehead in a stiff salute. "I will not desert you, even with the cost of my life, sir!"

A dark smile briefly passed Tiersen's face. "You sound like one of my soldiers. Even though the risk of your lives will be equal..."

Felix heard a swallow coming from Isus's direction. "O-of course. Have no doubt about my loyalty..."

"Of course..." Tiersen said dryly. He looked up at the ceiling of the strange, wondrous room. "I expect many betrayals."

Isus frowned, but said no more. He turned to Felix, an idea flitting across his face. "Patient! If you act as a... double agent... I bet... you could be the key to winning this war!


	6. Plans

Arms of Shadows

Plans

"I... don't really understand. Do you actually want me to live there for a while before I, uh, betray them?" Felix was upset and overwhelmed about everything already, before these two crack-heads - damn if they just read his mind - decided to add another 100 tons to his mind weight by making him a 'double agent', repeating their words, against his own element's mother land. For a year. 'But, of course, I'm not important,' He thought bitterly. 'As long as they win this war in which I know nothing about'.

Isus sighed. Whether from his thoughts or his statement or both, Felix couldn't tell. "That, or you can earn Lord Silas's eternal trust by doing some life-threatening heroic deed for him. Pick." For some reason, a picture of Lord Babi appeared in his mind.

"And I guess this 'Silas' is the Lord of Venus Clan?"

"Yes." Isus said with a decisive tap of his foot in rhythm with his confirmation. "There are many things we have to think out, like, how would a Venus clan member 'find' you? Your 'background'? Should you say you were from Weyard? Must we clothe you with traditional Venusian garbs? If so, where would we get them?" 'And that was probably just the tip of the iceberg, for 'finding' me would be a bit of a problem,' Felix mused.

"So..." The Valean let his sentence trail off, imploring what he should do while they were all shaping the plan.

"So we send you back to Weyard for one more day. The following day, you set off in the morning with whatever preparations we have arranged at that time. Oh, and of course, we cancel the effects of the Shadow Orb and the Lapis together."

Felix had almost no idea what Isus was talking about, but that was ok, at least ok for these two wind adepts, it seemed. They didn't offer any "Did you get that" so it seemed they were content with his knowledge... at least at this point.

Without another word, Isus got out some pure white parchment - it was absolutely perfect, without any bug-bitten holes or wrinkles. Also, the person who wrote the words on the parchment must have had phenomenal penmanship, because the letters were all exactly the same size, and the paragraphs were perfectly spaced as well. Felix wondered how that could be, but decided not to worry too much about it. The infirmary doctor started to study the sheets.

Absolute silence excepting some beeping hung over the almost cavernous room with screens that blinked with images of purple-eyed adepts - every single one of them - with crisp, clean white uniforms not unlike Isus's walking down long, winding hallways. The blue glow from the countless screens washed over the three adepts.

Finally, the doctor looked up, directly at Felix. "Patient 531."

"Excuse me?" Felix responded, surprised. "My name is Felix... of Vale."

Isus sighed again, but he smiled afterwards this time. He handed the sheets to Tiersen, who viewed them with the same calculating, studying look that Isus had. "Felix of Vale!"

Felix nodded. "Yes?"

"You will teleport back to Weyard. I'll let the assistant take you back to Room 531."

"Right."

Isus pointed out a pale, surprisingly grey-haired, tired looking middle-aged man leaning heavily against a similar-looking mop. The assistant seemed more like a house keeper. His distinctly brown eyes glinted curiously at the brown-haired Valean, wondering why his hair was not blonde, nor his eyes purple, with Felix thinking the same thing.

"Name is Mark Leon." He started walking down the coiling hallway without a second glance at Felix. What a strange man, and with such a normal name... considering where they were right now.

Felix looked back at Isus and Tiersen as he followed Mark. Tiersen had finished reading the papers and was now wrapped in discussion with the infirmary keeper.

-

Jenna blinked slowly. She had absolutely no idea what had happened, and where she was, but she definitely wasn't at Vale. Not Angara. Maybe not even Weyard! The adept didn't know if there were any other land masses besides Weyard, or underneath Weyard at the foot of Gaia Falls or anything like that, but this place wasn't like any place she had seen in _her _world.

Long, cylindrical tubes that she could probably fit in were glowing, and the light around it seemed to be vibrating with energy. There was one tube in each corner of the relatively big room she was in.

Squares with more squares on them that had numbers had been drilled into the white walls everywhere, and the walls were flawlessly white. She blinked repeatedly. All the white and blinking lights was starting to give her a headache, and she snuggled back down underneath the covers. She would figure this all out after her forehead-splitting migraine was gone.

-

Mark gestured to a room with a white tag on the door with bold black characters that spelled, 'Room 531'. "This would be your room. Good day." The stoic assistant left Felix in front of the door, and walked off, occasionally mopping an imaginary stain or brushing off some miniscule specks of dust. It would take that kind of scrutiny to keep the halls as almost nauseatingly white it was.

Felix looked back at Mark's deep blue overalls, wondering what his story was. Deciding that he had plenty of problems without worrying about the assistants, he turned a silver knob and peeked into the infirmary. Jenna was lying there, breathing in long breaths of air and slowly letting it out again. He didn't know how to operate or even read any of the weird things around this room so he just did the only thing that seemed simple, to try to find some cool water and a towel to rest on Jenna's head.

A quick search of the infirmary showed no signs of water buckets or clean towels, so he sat down in a hard metallic chair beside Jenna's - or rather his - bed, helplessly slumping down and worrying about the mission he now was burdened to accomplish.

He cursed his terrible luck and his soft heart. He could've left, to let Jupiter Clan possibly lose the war, not to risk his life in the most dangerous place - amidst the 'enemy'. But he couldn't accept Tiersen's earlier offer to let him get back to Weyard because if he went back now, guilt and shame would bury itself in his heart, possibly forever hiding in the recesses of his mind, away from the slow but sure erosion of time.

He briefly wondered if that was a good quality.

After several minutes, he heard a long, low beep, and all the lights in the room came on.

The shadow tattoo started streching, as if it were refreshed and ready to work. The swirls of the now-familiar sight covered his arm in a matter of seconds.

A pool of shadows grew underneath his feet, a striking contrast against the blinding light of the room. Felix willingly jumped in, eager to get to Weyard.

-

Felix looked around his incredibly plain, tidy room, kneading his forehead with his knuckles. Wondering what to do. He sighed, and decided that his first course of action would be to inform Ivan about Anemos. Possibly nobody would believe such a wild tale, but he had to try. Before he got himself killed in a ditch somewhere in Venus Clan because the residents found out that he was an infiltrator.

Scratching his head, he grabbed a brown shirt and some black pants. After changing slowly, he quietly stepped outside of his room and looked around. Not a single family member anywhere. That was strange... until he realized that it was technically morning, but not quite. He had lost track of all time in Anemos. It was like some kind of prison in there. There were no windows.

A dark blue covered the sleepy village of Vale, creating shadows that streched down entire streets. If he strained his eyes he could make out the rubble that used to be Mt. Aleph quite a long time ago.

Felix carefully walked down to the kitchen, and clumsily groped his way to the pantry, trying his best not to trip over the hand-carved kitchen table and the sturdy chairs that he had made himself. He looked longingly at the dining table, wondering if he would be back in a year - or never at all.

After quickly eating a biscuit and gulping down some fresh water, he prepared to leave. There was his hand-woven pouch from his childhood to store gold coins in, a sheath and his blade buckled to his side, and a rucksack to hold some gear. That was about all he had, and that was what he was going to have for the year he would stay at Venus Clan, unless Isus gave him something like secret weapons or more supplies.

Felix wanted everything now, to make sure he wouldn't forget anything. It would be a while before he was back, after all.

The air was chilly and wrapped around him quickly after he quietly shoved open the front door, the hinges squealing slightly. The river was half-frozen, gurgling its way through the crevices of ice. He looked at the middle, reminiscing about the fateful event that occured a few years ago. The rock had shrunk, erosion taking its toll. The only protector he had had from the icy grip of the fast-moving river...

.:.

_"Felix!" I could just hear Jenna's frightened call, and through a face full of water, I saw my mother restraining her. That was the last I saw of any people as I turned and swam with all the strength I could towards the only thing that could possibly save me now. The river swept me down and roughly rammed me right into my savior._

_I clutched the spire of rock that stabbed its way through the river like a warrior's blade, protectively keeping me above water, where I thrashed my legs against the current to further fight for my survival. I couldn't see a thing, my hazel-brown hair splotched to my face like a wet mop, the rain all around me that beat out any other sound... It felt as if all my senses were lost. The icy-cold blade of the river chopped at my numb, bleeding hands that held my lifeline._

_My dad and Isaac's were yelling at me, but I couldn't hear anything through the relentless curtain of rain that separated us. There wasn't a dry spot anywhere, the rain continuously and viciously pounding me from above with huge droplets of water, the cold-hearted river tugging my legs in a never-ending effort to drag me away and under its surface. The rock was getting harder to cling onto, the rain and splashes of the river wetting its surface. Finally it started to repel me, giving up the battle in an act of treachery..._

_I cried out as I slipped under the quiet, cold darkness, choking on the water that rushed into my lungs, and desperately scrabbled at the rock's side, begging the warrior to help me... but even the stone sword was spent...  
_

_Somehow I bobbed up again, the sound of rain bashing my ears. I heard a scream as well. A lot of screams, actually. A large object hurtled through the air with a menacing _whoosh_ at me from above, and I started to scream too as a huge boulder slammed me into the bottom of the river..._

.:.

Felix shook his head of the thoughts. Goosebumps rose all over him as he remembered the merciless chill of this same river that day. Now it was harmless, gentle as a sheep.

He walked on, noticing and appreciating everything in such clarity now that it was possible that he would spend some more time away from this place, his hometown. A peaceful retirement in Vale was now delayed for quite a while... or possibly forever.

A sign swung with a light breeze. It read, 'Vale Inn'.

Ivan would probably stay there, and hopefully he didn't go to Kalay or Contigo to visit his sister yet.

Felix shoved the door open, and poked his head inside. Two oil lamps in each corner glowed brightly, illuminating the room and revealing the reception desk. A wooden staircase led to the second floor where the rooms would be. The wind blew in the warm sanctuary through the door he had opened.

"Hello, Felix." Laura, the innkeeper's wife, gave him a crinkly smile filled with welcome. "Are you looking for someone?"

"Uh, yes!" Felix looked up the stairs while shutting the door behind him. "Is Ivan here?"

"Yes, I think he's in Room 2."

The adept walked up the stairway and pushed the door open to the second room from the left.

-

I revamped the whole story. I fixed some details, touched up a few small things here and there. You might even want to read the whole thing again just to get a better view of things. My next chapter will come soon. I want to get this story out of my mind, and not by deleting it!


End file.
